As openers go, the afternoon in the Horseshoe was anything but a no-sweat kind of day. Searing heat? Yeah, that, too. And what was transpiring at times had the natives perspiring. Leaves are awarded on a zero-to-five basis.

Offense (3 leaves)

Talk about your Cracker Jack starts — three TDs on three drives and the Buckeyes look unstoppable. Then you peer into the box and see mouse droppings instead of a prize — stop eating! OSU was merely decent after the first, hindered by turnovers and a lack of a power running game.

Defense (2 leaves)

It’s tempting to give the defenders a one-day pass, considering Bradley Roby could only watch as Buffalo swiped Armani Reeves’ lunch money. There are 10 other players on the field, though, and they did little to establish — let alone distinguish — themselves. Room to grow.

Special teams (3 leaves)

This is practically the definition of a mixed bag. On the one hand you have OSU smashing grapefruit in the Bulls’ faces with a pair of successful two-point conversions. But that’s offset by the roughing-the-punter penalty and some Philly Brown punt-return bobbles. What’s the Aussie word for “meh”?

Coaching (3 leaves)

For a while, it looked like Urban’s outfit would make Fielding Yost’s old point-a-minute offense look like child’s play. But then the Buckeyes got caught in the gears, and their engine became all sputtery. Say, which assistant has the job of making sure everyone is properly hydrated? I mean, next week.

Fun quotient (3 leaves)

Football’s back, which is good, and Ohio State’s first quarter allowed for thoughts of what might be — can ’Bama even deal with this? Then came the second quarter, and that swamp-butt seat had folks thinking about how good the A/C would feel — how much longer can we deal with this?

Opponent (2 leaves)

Buffalo is the Bulls, but they needed a few more horses to put a real scare into OSU. Star linebacker Khalil is a real Mack daddy, and the offense includes a few gamers. But some of UB’s schemes (how about some LBs in the middle of the field?) are head-scratchers.

Officiating (4 leaves)

Mostly, and blissfully, a quiet week. Replay issues? None. Targeting interpretations? Nope. Buffalo decried the personal-foul penalty on Mack that negated a Braxton Miller fumble inside the 5-yard line. It was a key call, but the replay backed it up.